novelhk Chapter 111: Catching Bandits
Chapter 111: Catching Bandits
Because Jiang Sining's house was too big, it took Hu Mingzhang some time to find his way to the front yard. It was dark, and with so many rooms, he didn't know which one was occupied.
But it doesn't matter, he can already hear heavy snoring coming from the nearest room.
So he decided to start with this one first, and the rest of the people would explore the other rooms.
Hu Mingzhang waved to the two people behind him and came to the door. Fortunately, the door was not locked and he pushed it open easily.
The light in the room was dimmer, and he could only vaguely see the bed, so he held the knife in one hand, ready to cut the person on the bed in half.
Unexpectedly, before the knife fell, someone pushed him from behind, causing his knife to miss the target.
He was going to chop his neck, but ended up chopping his arm.
"what--"
The person on the bed in the dark screamed. Hu Mingzhang had no time to blame the person behind him and was about to swing his knife again.
But unexpectedly, at this moment, a bright fire suddenly lit up outside, and someone shouted: "The bandits are coming!"
Cao Cunzheng, who was lying on the bed and was stabbed, was so scared when he heard that it was a bandit and saw a man in black with his face covered and holding a knife.
"Hurry up and save me! The bandits are here!"
Hu Mingzhang frowned. Now that the enemy had been alerted, he had to cut the Gordian knot and kill all the people and run away!
He raised the knife to end Cao Yin's life, but he was suddenly hit hard on the back of his head with a stick, and then his eyes went black and he fell to the ground.
"Cao Cunzheng, are you okay?" Si Chenan held a wooden stick in his hand and lit the oil lamp in the room.
"I was stabbed and it hurt so much..."
"Then bear with it. There are still a lot of bandits outside. I'll go out and take a look first."
After saying that, Si Chenan didn't care about his bleeding and quickly went to the yard.
The ten people who came with Hu Mingzhang had long been quietly knocked down by him and his wife, and were now scattered all over the yard in a mess.
My aunt and uncle-in-law also ran out, hitting and shouting with sticks in their hands, as if a fierce fight was taking place.
The two yamen runners were finally awakened. They heard a fierce fight outside and rushed out with their swords in hand, without even having time to put on their pants.
"Where are the bandits?"
As a result, when the two looked, they saw people in black lying everywhere in the yard, and Jiang Sining's family were holding sticks and hoes, their faces were pale and they were panting.
"Sir, the bandits...the bandits were knocked unconscious by us." Si Chenan said, "but one of them escaped..."
"He's not running away, he's here with me!" Cao Yin, who was in the next room, heard the voices of the two yamen runners and felt relieved. He ran out in a panic, covering his wounds, "Two officials, he's in the room! Go and capture him!"
Seeing that he was injured, the two yamen runners were cautious and came to the door of the house. Hu Mingzhang inside had already woken up.
When he heard that there were yamen runners, he couldn't help cursing in his heart.
Why are two yamen runners here in the middle of the night?
But there was no time to think about these things. He absolutely could not be caught, so even if it was the police, he had to take action.
So he picked up the knife on the ground and rushed towards the two yamen runners, aiming for their vital points.
When the two yamen runners saw how ferocious he was, they suddenly came to their senses, as they were a little dizzy.
"How dare you, you bastard, attack me? You're courting death!"
The two of them had also practiced this, and Hu Mingzhang was anxious to escape, so he was blocked in the house and couldn't get out.
Hu Mingzhang was a little anxious. He knew that the longer he delayed, the more disadvantageous it would be for him.
So he took out something from his waist and smashed it heavily to the ground.
boom--
A ball of fire suddenly exploded from the ground in the darkness, and the pungent smoke immediately dissipated. The bright light dazzled the eyes of the two yamen runners, and they retreated in fear.
Hu Mingzhang took the opportunity to rush out the door and escape in a certain direction.
The fire and explosion just now scared everyone present, except Jiang Sining.
She smelled the scent of sulfur, so she knew that it was just an ancient version of firecrackers. It could only scare people but had no killing power at all.
So she took out a stone from the space and smashed it on Hu Mingzhang's calf.
She used almost all her strength to break Hu Mingzhang's shin bone. He fell to the ground with a scream.
"Brother officer, arrest him quickly!"
Seeing that Hu Mingzhang was unable to get up from the ground, the two yamen runners bravely walked up to him.
"Let me go!" Hu Mingzhang said painfully, "Otherwise you will regret it!"
The bailiff was frightened by him and was already annoyed. When he saw that he dared to threaten him, he became even more furious and kicked him in the heart.
"You bastard, you're still stubborn even when you're about to die!"
"Tie them up!"
"Sir, use this!" Si Chenan quickly handed over a thick hemp rope.
The two yamen runners ignored the fact that Hu Mingzhang's leg was broken, pinned him to the ground and tied him up, then tore off the black cloth on his face.
Since they had just come from another place, they didn't know that this man was the county magistrate's brother-in-law. After tying him up, they beat him up.
Hu Mingzhang was so angry that his teeth were about to break, but he couldn't reveal his identity in front of so many people, as he would be really embarrassed if he did that.
He could only swallow his anger, thinking that after he took him to the county government office, he would ask his brother-in-law to deal with these two idiots.
But Jiang Sining would never give him this opportunity.
The news of bandits coming to the house alarmed the entire village, and almost every household rushed over with sticks.
"Don't panic, fellow villagers." Si Chenan said loudly, "All the bandits have been subdued by the two officials!"
The bailiff was slightly stunned when he heard this, but he quickly reacted.
This guy is very good at dealing with things. He put all the credit on the two of them. The two of them looked at so many bandits and were thinking happily that they would be rewarded this time. They couldn't wait to bring the people back to the county government.
"Sir, it's dark now and the road is slippery. Why don't we go back after daybreak?" Si Chenan said, "Then we will send dozens of villagers from our village and drive a few ox carts to help deliver the goods to the county."
"Yes, sir," Cao Yin was also afraid that the bandits would run away, so he advised, "It would be bad if they have accomplices and kidnapped people on the road."
The two yamen runners thought what they were saying made sense, so they asked the villagers for help. They tied up all the bandits on the ground, locked them in the cowshed, and had them under strict surveillance.
But no one went to sleep and waited in the yard until dawn.
Jiang Sining asked a few aunts to help and made a hearty breakfast. After everyone had their fill, dozens of people drove ox carts and set off towards the county town in a mighty procession.
The villagers told everyone along the way that the two yamen runners were so brave and invincible last night that they captured all the bandits who came to the village to rob things. The two yamen runners were so flattered by the praise.
When they arrived in the town, this unique team attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
When they heard that the bandits had been captured, everyone was extremely excited.
Gaochuan County was often robbed by bandits, so the city walls were built so high, but they were still difficult to defend against in many cases.
Now that we have captured more than a dozen bandits in one go, we shouldn’t have to worry this year.
So starting from the city gate, the number of people in the team increased rapidly, like a tide, following the ox carts to the county government office.
Everyone should see with their own eyes what kind of punishment these hateful bandits will receive!